PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Officials at the University of Peshawar in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province have cited security concerns as the reasons behind the cancelation of an event celebrating a book by teenage activist Malala Yousafzai.

Malala, the recipient of the European Parliament's 2013 Sakharov Prize, has become an international icon of resistance to the Taliban after being shot and almost killed for her campaign in support of girls' education.

An RFE/RL correspondent quoted university officials as saying they had to halt the January 28 book launch after local government ministers and police asked them not to proceed due to unspecified security reasons.

Malala lives in Great Britain and was not in attendance.

In November 2013, some private schools in Pakistan banned Malala's book, "I Am Malala," from their campuses, calling the memoir "anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam."